The harsh reality of prime-time TV

JonFriedman

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Among the new prime-time programs this season, "Deadline" looked like a slam-dunk.

It seemed to have the total package. Oliver Platt led a cast that boasted Bebe Neuwirth, Hope Davis, Lili Taylor and Tom Conti.

Dick Wolf, the force behind the long-time hit "Law and Order," was at the helm. Plus, General Electric's NBC network
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got behind the show early on and promoted it heavily on the air.

Best of all, for me, "Deadline" told the tale of what Inside.com, the media industry web site, called a "sleuthing tabloid columnist." And Platt played it right, too. He was no Robert Redford glamour puss from "All the President's Men." Platt wasn't even a knockoff of the preening Michael Keaton in "The Paper."

Platt was unabashedly rumpled, bless his heart. If "Lou Grant" had stayed on the air all these years, Platt might have resembled an older, heavier Joe Rossi.

And yet, despite all of these verities, NBC canceled the series - yes, already! -- after a mere five broadcasts. NBC also terminated the sit-coms "Tucker" and "Daddio."

The news wasn't lost on Jay Leno, who hosts NBC's "The Tonight Show." The first joke of Leno's monologue Thursday night was: "NBC, which stands for `Nothing But Cancellations'...must-flee TV!"

The hour-long drama "Deadline" ran fourth in the ratings in the timeslot of Monday at 9 p.m. Maybe this rookie had no chance from the very start.

It faced a blockbuster lineup that included the ratings heavyweight "Everybody Loves Raymond" on CBS
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and the Emmy-winning "Ally McBeal" on Fox
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not to mention the 900- pound gorilla in the form of "Monday Night Football" on ABC
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which has only been on the air since 1970.

NBC felt that it had no choice except to pull the plug, as "Deadline" attracted a paltry 7.4 million viewers. Let's face it. Like it or not, Dennis Miller draws more people on "Monday Night Football" when he inexplicably blurts out "Poltergeist!" -- as he did during the broadcast on the day before Halloween when the football fell off the kicking tee.

Maybe "Deadline" was too earnest and highbrow for its own good, kind of like Al Gore's presidential campaign.

What's most galling of all this season is that Fox's new show, "The Street," could be a hit, a successor to the long time-honored line of prime-time soaps as in "Peyton Place-"Dynasty-"Dallas"-"Melrose Place." It's the kind of show that reeks of titillation and draws smirks and knowing nods at water coolers across the country. See Laugh it Off.

"They should change the name from `The Street' to `The Gutter,' " Andy Schwartz, a trader at the American Stock Exchange (whose nickname, by the way, is the Curb), told Reuters.

Fox would reply to Schwartz's rebuke with a joyous, unapologetic sound approximating: "ca-ching!"

New York Post television critic Linda Stasi weighed in by writing that "The Street" is "easily the most unrealistic, expletive-and-sex-soaked soap you'll see this year." By the way, Stasi added that she loved the show.

Ca-ching! Ca-chiiiiiiiiing!

Maybe, in its own way, "The Street" reflects the public's opinion of Wall Street more accurately than "Deadline" mirrored journalism.

Wall Street's caretakers insist that sexual harassment is outdated in the financial community. Yeah, sure. Just wait till "The Boom-Boom Room" shows up as an answer on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

These days, everyone in television trumpets the virtues of "reality-based" television shows, such as "Millionaire" or "Survivor."

Reality, clearly, is in the eyes of the beholder.

Meanwhile, the dawning of the new TV season is revealing what has been the unthinkable at ABC: the country is showing signs of getting burned out on Regis' "Millionaire" program.

The ratings for the game show phenomenon have fallen this season signaling that everyone has his or her limit, even with a hit TV show. How will "Survivor II" fare, when it has its debut in January?

Not every viewer will blithely accept NBC's decision.

"Deadline" made an impact on some viewers. "Only one episode of `Deadline' has aired, and I'm already a fan...I love it," Joshua from Indiana raved on the Internet Movie Database. "[Platt] is perfect in this role. He's passionate about what he does, he works hard and it looks as tho he's a kind of guy who is always going to try to do the right thing. I think this show has a bright future."

Joshua sounds like a smart, serious TV viewer. Come to think of it, he should have known better.

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